Using a drum sample pattern for a live recording click track

I find that using basic click tracks during live recording of my guitar lacks feel, and it’s hard to get into a groove. There are plenty of drum sample patterns to choose from in Cubase Pro. How to I use one of these for my click track?

Here’s what I do:

  1. Drag and drop the desired drum sample loop file into where you want to start recording.

  2. While this drum loop is selected,
    go to the Edit menu, and select Functions > Repeat …
    image

  3. In the resulting dialog box, pick a high enough number of repeats, to make that loop repeat for the duration of your recording. (optional: enable the Shared Copies checkbox).
    image

Mute or delete that track, when you don’t need it anymore.


Alternatively: Make an Instrument track with Groove Agent SE and have that play a beat you select.

Learning how to use Groove Agent SE (included with Cubase Pro 11) takes a little while longer, if you’ve never used it, but is totally worth the effort if you eventually want to create your own drum tracks in your recordings.

Thanks. This steered me in the right direction where I learned about recording cycles, lanes within cycles, and dragging the lanes out sequentially. And I also learned many related useful things like comping vocals.

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